Armenia and the West: A New Vision for the Caucasus

Nov 29, 2014

The report offers some innovative thinking about Armenia’s geopolitical potential and challenges the prevailing views about Western involvement in Armenia and the Caucasus. It explicitly ignores Armenia’s main handicapping factor—its leadership and governance problems—and lays out a vision for the country’s role in the region under a popular, clean, and independent government.

Testimonials

"The report Armenia and the West: A New Vision for the Caucasus that followed the multifaceted discussion at the Atlantic Council on July 2, 2014 is both a gratifying result of a comprehensive insight into Armenia’s foreign and security policy and a creative after-thought to the discussion itself. It is also a rare attempt to put Armenia’s future into strategic perspective, which helps it to graduate beyond one-dimensional dependence on Russia and opens the door for alternative political thinking. Foreign policy problems and challenges are rightfully linked to better governance and democracy building." Rouben Shougarian, Armenia's First Ambassador to the US.

“I have been following the activities of Policy Forum Armenia for some time, and find the work of this small but outstanding group of professionals truly impressive. PFA’s ability to think outside the established norms and clichés, its perseverance and its well researched and thorough reports on difficult and hard-hitting subjects have always met the highest professional standards. Their latest report on Armenia and the West is no exception. One may or may not agree with all its conclusions, but the report stands as one of the most thoughtful and possibly consequential works on the subject of Armenia’s foreign relations.” Vahan Zanoyan, Author and Retired Chairman of PFC Energy International.

“Policy Forum Armenia has rendered an invaluable service to scholars and the general public in issuing the report “Armenia and the West,” a detailed exploration of the foreign and domestic policies of the newly-independent Caucasian republic. These are evaluated in the context of all of Armenia’s neighboring states, with special attention to Russia – a vital inclusion in the light of the recent Ukrainian confrontation. The report pulls no punches in its examination of Armenia’s faltering economy and governance in general, and displays total objectivity in its dissection of Armenia’s problems. It is a unique document and mandatory reading for anyone preoccupied with Armenian affairs." Edward Alexander, Author of “A Crime of Vengeance: An Armenian Struggle for Justice” and Retired US Diplomat.